Game Review: Dusty Revenge

Dusty comes home one day to find his house on fire and his wife trapped inside, he bravely breaks in and gets her out but he’s too late. Carrying her body out Dusty spots 3 shadowy figures through the smoke carrying an heirloom from his father and it is then Dusty vows revenge and the game begins.

From indie developer PD Design Studio comes Dusty Revenge, an ultra-stylish side scrolling beat ’em up. It’s a classic revenge story with a spaghetti western flavour featuring a hard as nails fearless 6ft bunny called Dusty who will stop at nothing and mow down anyone in his way to avenge his wife.

First and foremost, every inch of Dusty Revenge is stunning to look at as everything looks hand-drawn whether in-game or even the loading screens. The cutscenes are presented in a comic-book fashion which complements the story’s premise. There is a good variety of locations which all look stunning and there is a good choice of villains to knock out but the stand-outs are the gargantuan bosses. The animation, like the titular character really packs a wallop. Dusty is savagely brutal and feels fittingly powerful but swift at the same time which leads me nicely to the controls.

Since the days of Streets of Rage and Golden Axe the control scheme of scrolling beat ’em ups haven’t changed all that much and Dusty Revenge treads the same simple but effective path. Dusty can scroll or dash left, right and jump but it’s the melee/gun system that makes the game stand out. Reminiscent of Devil May Cry, Dusty has a light attack, a heavy attack and his dual guns and by mixing these together Dusty can throw out some pretty powerful combos which I must reiterate look amazing and feels extremely satisfying! This combo system keeps the game from just being a button mashing affair. Again like Devil May Cry, Dusty can juggle enemies with his quick-firing pistols then blow them away with an uppercut! Oh but the mayhem doesn’t stop there as Dusty makes some pretty powerful friends! Rondel wields a rocket launcher and McCoy is a sniper, both can be called upon by Dusty when needed. Interestingly though when Rondel and McCoy are taking out the enemies Dusty is still open to attacks so youl have to keep an eye on him and not rely on the devastating duo doing all the work. Rondel’s rocket launcher works a little like Angry Birds where aiming a rocket forms an arc and for McCoy’s sniper rifle a reticule appears allowing you to pick off who you want with deadly precision.

Sadly Dusty Revenge isn’t without its problems. You have seen this tale of revenge a thousand times- it is very predictable and offers nothing new. The soundtrack is average at best and the sound effects sound like they should but I wish they packed more of a bang, and the voice acting is way below- par as Dusty doesn’t sound particularly distinctive and the rest of the cast are pretty forgettable. PD Design Studio is actually based in Singapore but it’s no excuse to not have someone look over the script which is littered with grammatical errors and jarring sentences. I found this really spoilt the overall experience. Both the weapons and moves can be upgraded but that’s as far as progression goes! Unfortunately there is also very little replay value as there is no multiplayer or co-op and very little unlockables to speak of.